A YouTube video of Gandeys Circus' latest production, Hollywood, has captured a moment when a flying trapeze act went wrong. A flyer's fall to the net is followed by a loud crash as the net appears to become untethered from its anchor point. It clearly wasn't the scheduled end of the act, but instead of making a second attempt at the somersault, the flyer quietly exited the ring, followed by the rest of the troupe, who descended from their platforms via rope ladders instead of the traditional drop to the net, which had apparently been disabled. Nobody was hurt, and the show continued with ..read more

What an iconic picture this is, capturing the strength, pride, optimism and exhilaration of the circus performer and the circus itself! It looks like the Rosie the Riveter of the circus world. In fact, it is strong-woman Aoife Raleigh, one of the stars of Daring Dames, Europe's only all-female circus festival, which takes place on Achill Island, off the coast of County Mayo in Ireland from 24 - 26 May. Promising a packed programme of indoor and outdoor, day and evening performances in a variety of venues, including a trapeze rig set up beside the ocean, plus talks and discus ..read more

To me, this picture of British Cirque du Soleil star Lucie Colebeck (taken by Ollie Colebeck on stage at the Royal Albert Hall this January) really captures the wonder of the circus. I recently interviewed Lucie for a forthcoming magazine story, and what a story it is! Part sports drama, part theatrical tale and part love story, mixed together with the Montreal magic of the world's biggest circus company. Stay tuned!   ..read more

From knife-thrower's assistant to ringmaster, Tracy Jones reveals how she ran away with the circus as a teenager and set up her own Big Top. There aren’t many jobs in which the new girl gets knives thrown at her by the boss. But standing in front of a target while circus owner Phillip Gandey threw blades that hammered home within inches of her was Tracy Jones’ baptism of fire into life in the big top. “I trusted him completely,” says Tracy, who ran away with the circus as a 16-year-old and today is ringmaster of her own show, Circus Funtasia. “I think because I was young, I didn’t have mu ..read more

Alexis Gruss and wife Gipsy in one of his final visits to the ring The death of French showman Alexis Gruss on 6 April highlighted the difference in how circus is viewed on the other side of the Channel. No English showman has ever been knighted. The self-styled Sir Robert Fossett and Lord George Sanger adopted those titles themselves. France, by contrast, made Gruss a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters and a Knight of the Legion of Honour. When he died, his contribution to the arts was praised by French minister of culture Rachida Dati. I don't recall any member of the British gove ..read more

"For the first time ever, in any circus in the UK..." Those are the words you want to hear, bellowed through the air in a big top.  The new, the original, the unique. Those are the commodities that the circus has always thrived on. That is what will get you rolling up to a big top to see: something you can't see anywhere else. In this case, ringmaster Kevin Kevin (yep, he was so good they named him twice) was introducing this year's new season attraction to Big Kid Circus: Europe's only all-female Globe of Death riders. The globe of death is itself nothing new. In some recent rev ..read more

Fred Van Buren and his wife and assistant Connie Greta (pictured above) put the magic in the circus - literally. Performing in the circus rings of Gandey's, Fossett's and Chipperfields', Van Buren developed a style of illusion that could be viewed from any angle in-the-round. There was no back to his props that the audience couldn't see. His most famous stunt was the Vanishing Motorcycle and Rider, while completely surrounded. Van Buren's fame led to TV appearances including the David Nixon Show and Seaside Special. He was personally chosen by Walt Disney to create magic effects ..read more

Women have been part of the circus since it was invented by Philip Astley more than  250 years ago. In fact, perhaps we should say invented by Philip and his wife Patty, who was undoubtedly a big part of the enterprise. Patty played a drum and rode a horse in the first circus ring - with her hands surrounded by a swarm of bees! The circus was diverse and inclusive centuries before those words came into modern use. "There has always been a space in the circus where women can be physical," says strong-woman Aoife Raleigh (pictured above). "In Victorian times, women weren’t allowed ..read more

More than 250 years ago, Philip Astley invented the circus as we know it today. Two and a half centuries later, on 9 March, a Philip Astley Centre will open in his hometown of Newcastle-under-Lyme to celebrate his legacy as the original greatest showman. Giving new life to a formerly derelict shop, the Staffordshire visitor centre will host exhibitions, talks and circus workshops. Astley was born in the town in 1742 and fought in the Seven Years War before using his equestrian skill to establish the first circus ring, in London in 1768. The 42-ft diameter circle in which he performed tric ..read more

Setting world records has long been a way for circuses to gain publicity, whether it was the Chinese State Circus balancing the most performers on a bike or the Circus of Horrors suspending the most people over the Thames in a 'human mobile'. Cirque du Soleil took time out from its current run at the Royal Albert Hall to clock up two new entries into Guinness World of Records. The UK's Lucie Colebeck, above left, set a new record for 36 back handsprings on a trampoline in 30 seconds. In the show, she normally does five in a row. Doing so many continuously "felt like flying," she said. Mo ..read more